Welcome Competition but Indian Laws Apply to All: Reliance Breaks Silence on Musk’s Satcom Row

New Delhi: Reliance Industries Ltd on Friday broke its silence on Elon Musk’s public criticism of India’s satellite communications landscape, saying it sees a competitive market as the true test of who serves customers best, and welcomes competition, including from Starlink, but asserted that every player must obey Indian laws.

In its first direct response to Musk’s recent barbs, the company said it was placing “the facts on record.” Musk had criticised Reliance and argued that more competition would benefit consumers in satcom.

“At Reliance, we have never feared competition. We see it as the truest test of who serves the customer best,” the Mukesh Ambani–led company said in a statement.

The company backed its stance citing Jio’s own record. Jio entered India’s crowded telecom market in 2016 as the newest player, with not a single customer, and in a matter of just ten years, earned the trust of over 530 million customers, offering Indians some of the best digital infrastructure and most affordable data in the world, it said.

“We welcome competition in satellite communications, including Starlink. Every player, Jio included, must serve the people of India and abide by the laws and policies of the land,” the statement said.

Reliance said India’s openness to investment and innovation, homegrown or international, rests on the rule of law.

“Like every Indian enterprise, Reliance has grown in an India that welcomes investment and innovation, homegrown or international, that improve the lives of the people. That openness rests on the rule of law,” it said.

As the government has maintained, it applies the same process to every applicant, Indian or foreign, Reliance said, adding “Jio’s own satellite services await clearances”.

Earlier this week, addressing the Bloomberg New Economy Forum 2026, Bharti Airtel Chairman Sunil Mittal said his satellite communications venture Eutelsat OneWeb was significantly ahead of Elon Musk’s Starlink in the queue to launch services in India. His remarks added a fresh twist to a public dispute over regulatory approvals and competition in the country’s satellite internet market.

Government sources, responding to the controversy surrounding Starlink and Musk’s recent claims, have made it clear that any company operating in India must comply with the law of the land. The Centre’s position has been clear and consistent throughout, they added.

“Government’s position has been very clear, and was so even at the time they had applied, that if you don’t follow Indian laws, you cannot do business here…So to do business here, you have to follow Indian laws,” sources had said..

“I think I am significantly ahead in the queue from him. I applied five years back,” Mittal said, and added “We don’t have the permission, so we’ll be very happy to get it at least a few days before him”.

Mittal said OneWeb’s ground network has been ready for three years, and its satellites have been hovering over India for five years, but the company is still awaiting permission to begin commercial operations.

The pushback from Mittal, and now Reliance, comes after Musk, the world’s richest man, accused powerful business interests of blocking Starlink’s entry into India. In a series of posts on social media platform X recently, Musk took aim at Reliance Industries chairman Mukesh Ambani, sarcastically addressing him as “Prime Minister Ambani” and questioning whether he wielded greater influence over India’s decisions than Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Musk has alleged that some business groups are seeking to preserve a “monopolistic chokehold” on Indian consumers. However, the Ministry of Communications rejected the charge, describing suggestions that the regulatory framework or its application was unfair or discriminatory as “baseless and misconceived”.

The government said satellite operators must meet the same regulatory requirements, including security conditions and spectrum allocation rules, before they can begin commercial services.

Communications Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia has said three ventures — Musk’s Starlink, Reliance’s Jio Satcom and Bharti-backed Eutelsat OneWeb — had secured satellite communications licences. Amazon’s Project Kuiper has expressed interest but must follow the established procedure, he said.

Scindia made it clear that spectrum would be assigned once the government finalised a revenue-based charging framework and individual operators fulfilled security requirements. The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) and the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) were close to a decision on satellite spectrum pricing, he added.

The distinction between a licence and operational approval is central to the dispute: securing a licence does not automatically allow a company to begin commercial services. Spectrum assignment and the fulfilment of security conditions remain key steps.

The dispute comes at a consequential time for Reliance, which is preparing for the initial public offering of Jio Platforms, its digital services business. Jio has set a price band of Rs 1,065 to 1,119 a share for its offer of up to 27 crore new shares, about 3 per cent of the existing capital, with no offer-for-sale component.

At the top of the band, the sale would raise about Rs 30,213 crore, ahead of Hyundai Motor India’s Rs 27,870 crore share sale in October 2024, the country’s biggest. The price implies a market value of about Rs 10.3 lakh crore, short of the roughly Rs 11 lakh crore the company had earlier been said to seek.

Bidding runs from October 21 to 23, with anchor investors bidding on October 19. The shares are expected to begin trading on October 28.

Reliance is also developing its satellite ambitions, including a proposed constellation of about 1,600 low-earth-orbit satellites aimed at extending internet connectivity to 600,000 villages. That would put Jio in more direct competition with Starlink, which is seeking access to a vast market where satellite broadband could serve remote communities and locations poorly covered by terrestrial networks.

Ironically, Reliance and SpaceX last year signed an agreement to explore ways of bringing Starlink services to Indian customers through Jio’s retail network.

(Disclaimer: Except for the headline, this article has not been edited by HDFC Sky editorial team and is auto-generated from PTI feed.)